We wrote this some time ago:
This is a good discussion - and also more than that. As a result we have awarded the development to Johan Dams. Johan has demonstrated his ability in this Project: Use of EFIKA PowerPC Boards and SUN Fire T1000 Server in a Cooperative Project for Higher Education in Vaasa-Finland. Project #338 has already turned into a success. The next full deployment (beyond the deployment in Vaasa) is scheduled for May. Congratulations Johan!

We would also like to recognize a few others...

Noel Lemouel is also a winner. Noel's Project is here: Highly flexible/ultra low cost framebuffer for the EFIKA and FPGA technologies support. Together with Johan, as the hand is to the eye, we are confident this effort will succeed.

There are other collaborators to be drawn into this body. We have asked Konstantinos Margaritis to provide the local support where the mobile EFIKA will be used at one of already five locations Project #337 will be deployed: The Center for Hellenic Studies. It was actually Konstantinos that introduced Genesi to the Harvard folks in the first place - thanks Konstantinos! Finally, we will be looking to Pascal Papara to continue to develop his ideas on the case. Thank you Pascal. FedEx says you should have your EFIKA today.

Great work! Let's press ahead...

R&B :)

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http://bbrv.blogspot.com

I have to thank you! I`ve got my sweet little EFIKA! This is the beginning of a new age ; )

Here are my 2 eurocents :D

IMHO the success of Efika is because it is a "generic tool"
It has all the "basic ingredients" to make it...whatever you want. The same "recipe" should apply to the "portable efika"

Instead of designing it for a specific screen technology and/or resolution, make it "generic" i.e support as many screen technologies as possible and let the users use the one that is better suited for their project.
1024x768 and 17 inch is nice, but there are so many application that need the power of Efika but a smaller screen, qvga or something in the 6 to 10 inch format.

This does not mean that a specific screen could not be "suggested".

Also "Portable" in my mind links immediately to low-power and power management.
It would be nice if this could be handled by the Efika bios, so even an OS without or limited power management can make the most of it.
For example been able to set the operating frequency of the core from a user-land application, so when the machine is idle cpu goes to a low-power mode reducing the clock speed etc

Have you tested this adapter? It would be nice to know if it REALLY works.

I worry about the lack of mounting options on the board (it will just hang off the connector, which makes it much less resilient than, for instance, the CFDISK2.G from PC Engines)

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Matt Sealey

no i haven't tested it, i just saw it on a news site. The only interest is that it can handle 2 CF cards, using them as 2 HDs (sda and sdb).
But you're right, the mounting options don't seem efficient, i'll order one soon (i may use it in another machine if it doesn't fit/work on the Efika)and give you my feeling about it.

Hi Ifaistos,

Generic screen I/F are VGA & DVI which are already available on the GFX you plug on the EFIKA. But we target here "bare panels" for obvious cost reaons. It's very hard to be generic (not to say impossible) when you deal with this kind of panels (many different connectors & also various pinouts). Even if TTL RGB /SVGA screens seem to have the same connector/pinout, if the user have to make its own PCB at least for a suitable connector, nobody will be interested.

I think a built-in screen has its place in the "portable EFIKA" because the "smallest size" for common monitors is today 15" wich come with their own supply/cables... This is quite bulky, no ?

And if you look at the smallest 7/8" displays, prices are, in my oppinion, really too high.

This is the idea for the portable EFIKA screen. Choose a correct resolution/size and "strip" the electronics to the minimun to get the best price.

For the first prototypes, the target is a SVGA 10~12" flat panel (limiting parameter is the panel I/F. To make it faster, we restrict the choice to TTL RGB screens).

QVGA is 320*240... It's really small. It should work with the framebuffer driver & probably with X (with custom apps...). For me VGA or WVGA for 6/7/8" is good. I've already seen a 7" QVGA screen, it's not very nice: pixels are huge. ;-)
QVGA are mostly used today for 3~4" displays.

Stellae

THe problem I see with this is that it uses the master/slave configuration for IDE, and as I recall, there's only one IDE channel on the efika - it's not possible to use a master/slave configuration.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we're limited to the single-CF variant of this.

Hi all!
Today i asked some companies what it would cost to make a case like the "portable-imac"but a bit simplier for the beginning. I want to use this case for my Efika ; ) I can not say when their offerings will arive - hopefully next week.

It will be based on the portable Efika Design and it will use a similar stand-system like this


The stand will fixed a little bit downward to ensure that in the upper half is enough room for a panel (where you can carry your Keyboard and Mouse)

I will use a 10.4" (field of view 211x159)screen and the dimension of the case are nearly 230x275x60 (mm) but this are only temporary dimensions - final design and dimensions depends on the results of Johans and Noels technical work.

Best regards

Well, there is one IDE channel but each channel can have master/slave as normal. The problem with the Efika is without a cable it is hard to expand the port into two devices. This device manages that just fine, the trace length is restricted and should be as fine as any CF adapter.

Another solution would be to get a PATA to SATA converter which sat in the drive bay, you would not be able to plug the drive directly into the board anymore (however other mounting options are available to you if you're smart). However I do not think these exist in 44-pin versions (Addonics do not have any, in which case, they do not exist :)

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Matt Sealey

Addonics don't ship to France so i had to cancel my order for the dual adapter. Unless someone can help me with it ?

Kind of a long shot, but I've seen that the Canadian post will forward out of country.
for example, packages shipped with a Russian address, but with a Canadian postal code/country moniker might be forwarded to the proper address in Russia by the highly thoughtful Canadian postal workers.

Dunno if you want to risk that or not, but it's an idea.

http://www.webconnexxion.com/raid/produ ... cts_id=561

These guys are in the Netherlands, they should ship into France. The shipping cost and tax is incredible, though, doubling the adapter price nearly :(

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Matt Sealey

Hmm interesting...

I have a PATA<>Sata adaptor. The motherboard has a 44pin Female ide right? How bad would it be to use a 44pin<>40 adaptor with the Sata adaptor? Why would SATA change anything? (the port adaptor i have and have seen are only 1 channel)

magnetic

thanks for the link Matt, i just ordered it, it may take some time as they don't have it in stock. I'll tell you how it performs on the Efika as soon as i got it.

Here is my take as a hardware guy on this subject. I have done low volume portable design as well as full production for the past 10 years.

In order for a project to be successful, you have to establish some realistic goals and targets that is agreeable and achievable.
- cost, time, size & weight, features.
- $$$ backing. This project is not cheap. It can easily run into $10K range for 5-10 units even if you don't pay yourself.

Since this is a low volume 'production', then you want to minimize the inventing of the wheel and get as much off the shelf commodity parts as you can. As hardware 'spins' have real material cost associate with them, so they can get expensive.

LCD panels driving:
- Take apart say 15" LCD monitors. Case modder * quite often do this
- You can get special video cards with TTL outputs. Often these are for embedded applications.
- There are also DVI Digital to TTL interface
- Roll your own

Graphics card Height:
The connector is at the edge of the board, so if you are willing to live with 2 PCB and expanding the overall foot print, you can do it. Think outside the box literally.

Basically you need 1 PCB as a replacement to the riser card. Put in a vertical connector to a 2nd card. This card also carries a mating connector and instead of rising, it drops the graphic card down to level with EFIKA.
Batteries:
Take a look at what the guys are using for Electric RC cars/boats/planes/helicopters. You'll learn a lot about battery technologies , safety, charging and where to get them cheap.

Case:
- either look for existing boxes (eg. 1U/2U enclosures, electronic enclosures, diving cases (see URL) etc)
http://www.uwkinetics.com/home.php

- make your own with aluminium channels (e.g. U shaped ones) with lexan/aluminium panels.

- Vacuum forming
http://members.aol.com/GCGassaway/vacuform.htm

See following for all kind of 'case mods' for turning something into a 'laptop'
http://www.hackaday.com/category/laptops-hacks/

I would highly recommend you take a look at how people do 'case mods' for game consoles into laptops. Also try to take advantage of those LCD monitors as they already have all the electronics inside to do what you need. Also take advantage of these commodity electronic as they have high volume, so they will beat you sourcing individual components.

Good luck.